Written Answers Nos. 502-519
502. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a Student Universal Support Ireland grant appeal in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39854/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn appeal from the student referred to by the Deputy was heard by the independent Student Grants Appeals Board on 02 September 2014 and considered further on 30 September 2014, upon receipt of additional documentary information, with the decision of the SUSI appeals officer upheld.
In order to be assessed as an independent mature student an applicant must provide sufficient evidence to show that he/she was living independently of his/her parents from October of the year before the first point of entry to higher education. I understand that the student referred to by the Deputy entered their course in 2013/14 and needs to provide proof of independent residence from October 2012. The Appeals Board was not satisfied that independent residence was established and advised the student that an affidavit from the landlady would not be accepted unless there was other documentary evidence to support it.
The Appeals Board would consider the appeal further should substantive documentary evidence be provided to demonstrate independent residence.
503. Deputy Eamonn Maloney asked the Minister for Education and Skills the proportion of her budget that is earmarked to support special needs education; and the number and proportion of teaching posts dedicated to meeting special education needs, at primary and post-primary levels, in the current year and for each year since 2007. [39856/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that some €1.3 billion will be spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs this year, which represents approximately 15% of my Department's budget.
The equivalent proportion of expenditure from 2007 to 2010 was approx. 10%, 10%, 11% and 14% each year while from 2011 to present it represented approximately 15% of my Departments expenditure Approximately 80% of this expenditure relates to salary provision for Special Needs Assistant Support, special class and special school teachers, along with resource teachers and learning support teachers in schools.
I wish to advise, however, that the majority of pupils with special educational needs attend mainstream classes and are therefore supported both by the mainstream class teacher and additional learning support or resource teachers. Some pupils attend special classes for part of the day and mainstream classes for other parts of the day. Most teachers in the educational system therefore provide for the education of some pupils with special educational needs. For this reason it is not possible to provide definitive details of the number of teaching posts which support pupils with special educational needs in primary and post primary schools each year. I wish to advise, however, that as part of Budget 2015, I recently announced further increases in Resource Teaching posts in order to meet increased demand and to ensure that children will continue to have access to additional supports in school.
This Government has been resolutely committed to protecting, and in some instances increasing, the level of investment being made to support children with special educational needs at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure reductions across a range of areas. It is an area of spending which has been prioritised above most other areas by this Government, despite the enormous pressures on all areas of public spending.
504. Deputy Eamonn Maloney asked the Minister for Education and Skills in respect of primary teachers on her payroll the total number of teachers at 1 September 2011, categorised by their ages at that date; and the age at first payment in 2009 of those teachers who commenced teaching in 2009. [39857/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe administrative resources necessary to obtain the information requested by the Deputy are not available in my Department at present.
505. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if changes are planned to the Irish language school curriculum (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39881/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork is underway in the NCCA on the development of a new integrated English and Irish specification at primary level. The NCCA has consulted on their work so far which is focused on junior infant classes through to second class. The findings of the consultation are informing the development of the curriculum. It is expected that the new curriculum will be available to schools from September 2015 and implemented from September 2016. The emphasis is not only on reading and writing but also on the listening and speaking aspects of the languages.
The NCCA, having completed its consultation on a background paper on Irish for the Junior Cycle, is currently working on the development of the new specification. This will be available for implementation in schools for their first years from September 2016. This specification will clarify the learning outcomes to be achieved by students and place an increased emphasis on the development of oral language skills. Consideration is also being given to the introduction of a short course in Irish in Junior Cycle particularly for Irish students in the Gaeltacht, or students in Gaelcholáistí who would like the opportunity to study additional Irish.
Since June 2012, the weighting for oral Irish proficiency in the Leaving Certificate was increased from 25% to 40%. The impact of this change is being reviewed. It should be noted that the percentage of Irish candidates taking the Higher Level paper has risen from 37% in 2012 to 40% in 2014. This is most likely attributable to the new weighing / emphasis on oral Irish. An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) has been co-located with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) so that the development of curricula and support materials for Irish (this is a key part of the remit of COGG) can take place in a closely co-ordinated way. This approach should allow for the enhancement of the quality of teaching and learning.
There has been significant investment in continuous professional development (CPD) for Irish teachers in recent years. For example,
- CPD in relation to the national literacy and numeracy strategy for primary teachers and post-primary teachers has included specific provision for teachers in Irish medium schools and a commitment to offering 20 hours of CPD over the course of 5 years to certain teachers.
- CPD for post primary teachers of Irish from 2007 - 2012 has provided by the Seirbhís Tacaíochta Dara Leibhéal don Ghaeilge. This team has now been integrated with the Professional Development Service for Teachers and continues to provide CPD for teachers of Irish as part of the literacy strategy
- CPD for post-primary teachers of Irish in the context of the new junior cycle Irish specification will begin in the school year 2015/2016.
Thus at both primary and post-primary there is a significant amount of work being done or being reviewed. One of the aims of this work would be to improve the oral language skills of the students and to make it a living language that they will be competent and proud to use. This commitment to Irish is also mindful of the Government's 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010 - 2030.
506. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39963/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra507. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39964/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra508. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39965/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra509. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8 may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39966/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra510. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39967/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra511. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39968/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra512. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39969/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra513. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) in County Offaly may expect a decision on an application for a student grant. [39970/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 506 to 513, inclusive, together.
As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications.
This service compliments the establish channels provided by SUSI which include online application tracking, a dedicated website, a telephone helpdesk, email and social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
Enquiries, such as that raised by the Deputy, may be emailed direct to SUSI at oireachtas@susi.ie.
514. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress to date of the new social enterprise initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39974/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe initiative referred to by the Deputy does not fall under the remit of my Department. I understand that the project, in which the DCU Ryan Academy is one of the partners, is supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Programme 2007-2013 (InterReg 4A).
515. Deputy Tom Barry asked the Minister for Education and Skills the changes in funding allocations to the Cork Education and Training Board in recent months, in terms of both current expenditure and capital expenditure. [40003/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere has been no change to the funding allocated to Cork ETB in recent months.
My Department's general and post primary expenditure grant to an ETB is divided between pay and non-pay. In 2014 Cork ETB received a pay grant of some €89m. The non pay grant amounted to approximately €5.5m.
The ETB sector receives capital funding throughout the year in respect of Building Programmes such as Large Scale Projects, Additional Accommodation projects, 2014 Summer Works Scheme, Emergency Works projects and replacement furniture and equipment requests. Funding levels are dictated by the speed of the delivery of the respective projects in each case.
Capital expenditure in respect of Cork ETB to date in 2014 is approximately €2.3m.
516. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding special needs assistants (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40020/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that schools may apply to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) for Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support in respect of children with special educational needs who have care needs in schools, in accordance with the criteria set out in my Departments Circular 0030/2014 on the SNA scheme.
This circular sets out the significant care needs which normally qualify for SNA support.
Many children with Down syndrome receive access to SNA support in schools. I must advise, however, that SNA support is provided on the basis of the assessed care needs of individual children, as opposed to being allocated automatically on the basis of a particular disability diagnosis.
Schools who wish to make applications for SNA support for children with special educational needs for the current school year may continue to make such applications to the NCSE.
517. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding fee-paying schools (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40021/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe previous Minister published a report titled "Fee Charging Schools Analysis of Fee Income" on the 5th March 2013 into the discretionary income available to the fee charging schools.
The report is an analysis of the funding position of the schools which charge fees. It shows the funds available to these schools through charging fees, which are not available to secondary schools in the Free Education Scheme.
Information was sought from the 55 schools and was accepted by the Department as submitted. It was not subject to audit or verification. Participation was voluntary for the schools concerned and it was a matter for each school to decide what information the school would share with the Department in relation to how it utilises fee income.
The report estimated that €23.55 million represents the recurrent cost to the exchequer if all 55 fee charging schools were admitted to the Free Scheme in the 2011/12 school year. The Department has set out fully in the report the basis and methodology used to arrive at this estimate.
There are at present 52 fee charging post primary schools in the state.
518. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the timeframe for the new school on Harcourt Terrace, Dublin 2 from design to completion; the way and when patronage is to be decided; and when parents will be able to register their children for this new school. [40081/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAssuming no issues arise, it would be anticipated that the timeframe for the development of the school concerned, including the appointment of a Design Team to completion of school construction, would be over 42 months.
In due course, a patronage determination process will be run for the school in accordance with the published criteria for establishing new schools.
519. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details of those schools, primary or secondary, that have entered the free scheme since 2011; the total State funding provided to these schools each year since their entry into the free scheme; and the total State funding provided for each of the three years prior to them entering the free scheme. [40084/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraFive fee charging post-primary schools have joined the Free Education Scheme since 2010/11.
The net indicative cost to the Department of teacher salaries in the five fee charging schools which transferred to the Free Education Scheme in this period is of the order of €0.7m.
This takes account of an increase of 28 posts warranted by the application of the pupil teacher ratio applicable to the free scheme offset by the allocation of 12 additional posts arising as a consequence of an increase in the pupil enrolment of these schools since entering the Free Scheme. It is expected that any further increase in enrolments in the following years will further offset the issue of the extra Department funded teaching posts.
Capitation and Capital Grants provided to the fee charging schools which transferred to the Free Education Scheme were as follows:
|
Year |
Amount |
|
2011 |
€218,987 |
|
2012 |
€1,647,352 |
|
2013 |
€3,409,908 |
|
2014 |
€1,191,885 |
The capital grants were utilised by the schools to meet liabilities incurred for building and associated works undertaken which would have been eligible for consideration for such funding, that would otherwise be met from fee income, had the school not entered the Free Education Scheme.
In the years before entry to the Free Education Scheme the salaries of teachers employed within the annual staffing allocation for fee charging schools were paid by the State. Capitation grants were not paid to these schools in the period prior to entering the Free Education Scheme.
When examining the issue of additional costs to the Department arising from the entrance of schools to the Free Education Scheme, it must also be recognised the savings which the Department has realised through the changes to the staffing schedule of fee charging schools over recent years. Since 2009, those savings amount to approximately €27m, greatly exceeding the additional costs which have been incurred from the entry of the five fee charging schools into the Free Education Scheme.
